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Exhibition

Robert Rauschenberg

Erasing the Rules
November 18, 2017–March 25, 2018

From the 1940s until his passing in 2008, Rauschenberg worked with everything from photography to items scavenged from New York City streets to vats of bubbling mud. More than 150 of Rauschenberg’s artworks, including prints, sculptures, paintings, and Combines (works that incorporate painting and sculpture), will be on view in the retrospective Robert Rauschenberg: Erasing the Rules, celebrating the artist’s continual experimentation with materials and collaborative working processes. The exhibition demonstrates how, with razor-sharp humor and intelligence, Rauschenberg broke down boundaries between disciplines, anticipated many of the defining cultural and social issues of our time, and redefined what art could be for the generations of artists who followed.

Exhibition Preview

Artwork image, Robert Rauschenberg, Untitled (Double Rauschenberg)
Traces of ink and crayon on paper, with mat and hand-lettered label in ink, in gold-leafed frame
A brightly colored assemblage artwork, Rauschenberg Collection
A colorfully painted Angora goat head ina rubber tire atop a wood platform
A painted quilted mounted on a vertical support
Video still of a dancer with a billowing white costume on a stage
Colorful silkscreen with a seated nude figure facing a mirror at the center
A vat of bubbling mud
Hanging red, yellow and sheer fabric
Artwork image, Robert Rauschenberg, Port of Entry

Robert Rauschenberg, Untitled (Double Rauschenberg), ca. 1950; Cy Twombly Foundation; © Robert Rauschenberg Foundation

Robert Rauschenberg, Erased de Kooning Drawing, 1953; collection SFMOMA, purchase through a gift of Phyllis C. Wattis; © Robert Rauschenberg Foundation

Robert Rauschenberg, Collection, 1954/1955; collection SFMOMA, gift Harry W. and Mary Margaret Anderson; © Robert Rauschenberg Foundation

Robert Rauschenberg, Monogram, 1955–59; Moderna Museet, Stockholm, purchase 1965 with contribution from The Friends of Moderna Museet; © Robert Rauschenberg Foundation

Robert Rauschenberg, Bed, 1955; the Museum of Modern Art, New York, gift of Leo Castelli in honor of Alfred H. Barr, Jr.; © Robert Rauschenberg Foundation

Peter Moore, Photo of Rauschenberg performing his piece Pelican (1963), First New York Theater Rally, 1965; © Barbara Moore / Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY; courtesy Paula Cooper Gallery, New York

Robert Rauschenberg, Persimmon, 1964; private collection; © Robert Rauschenberg Foundation

Robert Rauschenberg, Mud Muse, 1968–71; Moderna Museet, Stockholm, gift of the New York Collection; © Robert Rauschenberg Foundation

Robert Rauschenberg, Mirage (Jammer), 1975; Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, New York; © Robert Rauschenberg Foundation

Robert Rauschenberg, Port of Entry [Anagram (A Pun)], 1998; collection SFMOMA, purchase through a gift of Phyllis C. Wattis; © Robert Rauschenberg Foundation

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Robert Rauschenberg: Erasing the Rules Audio Tour

Don’t miss this exclusive audio guide to Robert Rauschenberg: Erasing the Rules. Rauschenberg’s friends, collaborators, and fellow creators — including sound artist Pamela Z, artist and writer Indira Allegra, and poet John Yau — recall his rule-breaking career.
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Digital Publication

Rauschenberg Research Project
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From the 1940s until his passing in 2008, Rauschenberg worked with everything from photography to items scavenged from New York City streets to vats of bubbling mud. These stories celebrate the artist’s razor-sharp humor and intelligence and his continual experimentation with materials and collaborative working processes.
Thumbnail, Rauschenberg Hiccups
Black and white portrait of a young Caucasian man with brown hair sitting before a painting of a target, Rauschenberg
essays
Rauschenberg, with Affection
Two black and white portraits of Caucasian men, one with his face blurred, the other sticking his tongue out, Evans Rauschenberg
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On the Thin Frontier: Robert Rauschenberg and Walker Evans in Context
Black and white portrait of an elderly Caucasian woman in a wheel chair next to a standing Caucasian man, Wattis and Rauschenberg
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An SFMOMA Love Affair: Robert Rauschenberg and Phyllis Wattis
A vat of bubbling mud
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Not a Typical Mud Bath: Robert Rauschenberg’s Love Affair with Technology
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On the occasion of the exhibition Robert Rauschenberg: Erasing the Rules, and the performance program Limited Edition, Projects + Perspectives and Open Space invited artists Alex Escalante, Keith Hennessy, and Leyya Tawil to offer their thoughts on three iconic dance works included in the exhibition.
Thumbnail, Rauschenberg Hiccups
Open Space
Call and Response: Leyya Tawil + Bayoumi, Ibrahim, Ghawanmeh
Open Space
Call + Response: Keith Hennessy + I Got a Truth to Tell
Open Space
Call and Response: Alex Escalante + Sonya and Layla Go Camping
Black and white film still of a Caucasian man in black tights and leotard standing next to a door with one arm out streched, Antic Meet
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Limited Edition Call and Response: Alex Escalante + Antic Meet
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Robert Rauschenberg: Erasing the Rules is organized by Tate Modern, London, and The Museum of Modern Art, New York, in association with the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

The San Francisco presentation is dedicated to the memory of Phyllis Wattis, whose vision and support provided the groundwork for the exhibition.

Global Tour Sponsor

Bank of America

Major support is provided by Carol and Lyman Casey, Doris Fisher, The Mimi and Peter Haas Fund, SFMOMA Collectors’ Forum, the Paul L. Wattis Foundation, the Phyllis C. Wattis Fund for Traveling Exhibitions, and Carlie Wilmans.

Generous support is provided by the Gerson Bakar Foundation, Aurelia and Cadmus Balkanski, Penny S. and James G. Coulter, Roberta and Steve Denning, Dana and Bob Emery, James Hormel and Michael Nguyen, the Mary Jo and Dick Kovacevich Family, Christine and Pierre Lamond, Deborah and Kenneth Novack, the Bernard and Barbro Osher Exhibition Fund, the Prospect Creek Foundation, Chara Schreyer, Helen and Charles Schwab, Thomas W. Weisel and Janet Barnes, and Bobbie and Mike Wilsey.

This exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.